I'm doing a road racing podcast tomorrow

Sorry for the quick notice.

I'm a member of a local group called Louisville Vintage Motorworks that has about 2000 members on Facebook but probably 400 that are really active. These guys are for real, they've had articles written about them in the AMA mag. They want to put together a racing team.

This has been talked about for years but it never worked out. Getting serious this year so they want to know specifics.

I'm about as journeyman as they come. Louisville has had some damn good racers come out such as Harold Page and Jimmy Vanderhaar, but I'm the one that hangs out with these guys the most so I got picked.

WERA is all that I know and love, so that's my focus. I'm trying my best to get anywhere from 3-6 new guys on the grid so any advice is greatly appreciated. Since I'm an anal bastard, I wrote out a simple outline. Here it is, have at it.

 

Maybe do a brief summation of the classes with common bikes you would see in those classes.

@BigBird no superbike radiator hoses in supersport

 

That's awesome! Last year I was able to get 4 local street Rossi's to at least come out to an STT day. By the end of the year 2 of them had switched to full track fairings. This year I'm making room in my trailer and am offering a FREE transport and help for a weekend to anyone who wants to dip their toes in WERA.

From my experience, 4 things keep people away:

1. They don't think they have the skills to even TRY to get on grid.... But they somehow have the skills to do ahunner-eighty-mil'nawr down back roads..

2. they think it will cost 50 bagillion dollars... Obviously we all know you CAN spend that much money. However, we all know you can also show up to a NOVICE C grid with any fuel injected 600cc, on stock suspension, DOT tires, and be in the mix with someone.

3. They're scared of getting hurt.. Yet again, they will go bonkers on the streets.

4. They currently don't know anyone or have any friends in the paddock. TBH this was the one that kept me from trying it.. I wanted to race bikes my whole life. But most of my friends raced cars... I also have a very nice side hustle doing fabrication and R&D work for race cars.. So I just raced cars also. I told myself 4 years ago "if you don't try this you will hate yourself" So, I bought a $2500 ZX6R off FB with no title, bought some Q3's and changed the oil... I did one weekend with STT in June of 2019. The only people I knew at the track were Dan, the owner of Gingerman and some of the corner workers.. the Monday after the event some of the coaches got ahold of me and convinced me to come out to BHF and get my CCS license... By the end of the year, both my race cars were sold. Now I have basically a 4th family. lol I have the family I was born into, the family that raised me, the family I raced cars with, and the family that I race bikes with.


FWIW I think the big tip point for a lot of folks is just getting them t come to the track, even as a spectator. Once they see how relatively easy it is, especially at an amateur level, it really gets the wheels turning. Once they are there I always try to point out certain things, like the Provisional Novice racers, or the guy that just backed his shit out of a U-Haul van, and only put it on a rear stand, because his Birdgestone RS11/Dunlop Q3+/Pirelli TD SuperCorsa's dont NEED tire warmers.

I will also make them help me with things, like "pre-tech" tech inspection of my bike, making sure all my safety wire is present, loose bolt check, removal of belly pan, quick rundown and verification of current suspension settings, etc. I will try to give quick 4-5 word answers to their questions along the way... Now they're seeing how easy it is to work on a race bike. Then I let them know that my wife will help me for the rest of the day, and to get lost. Go walk around and check peoples shit out, watch the racing, watch what people do right before they leave for grid, watch what they do when they get back. Check out what bikes you like and ask what class they race in.. Stuff like that.

 

Looks good. Looking back on my few years racing with WERA, reading the rulebook was probably the singlest most important step in getting me on the grid. It answered so many questions. If it were me, I'd def stress that.

Also, $50 gate fees?!

 

There's a couple things I may not be exact on but I'm trying to be close. I can't really recall what I paid gate fees for last time I raced which was a couple years ago at Nelson. I'm sure it was less than say Barber.

 

There's a team out of Louisville that races with AHRMA.

 

Interesting, I have not heard of them. I'll question the crew that's coming later about this. We have a weekly vintage bike night that takes place about 8 months of the year, and I would have thought this would have come up in conversation.

Another point, and this is just my personal observation ; it seems people that race with WERA stay there and AHRMA people stick with them, and there isn't a lot that do both.

 

Soooo...how does one tune in to said podcast ??

 

I don't think it will come out for a few days. They do one every couple of weeks on various motorcycling topics. I know next week they're going to the Garage Brewed show in Cincy. I'll pass info along as I get it.

 

They run out of the Louisville Motorcycle Performance shop, same bunch own Jemco Exhausts.